Spring Fling
by mydearjori
Summary: Due to an acting assignment assigned by Sikowitz over spring break, Tori and Jade must act like girlfriends for the entire week. Except, neither of them want it to be acting; not that they would ever admit it.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

* * *

Spending spring break with Jade was supposed to be a joke, a dare. Andre bet her that she couldn't last the week with Jade and survive. Of course, she thought he had meant surviving their constant fighting and banter. So when she entered the house party - mansion party by the size of it - Tori couldn't stop her lips from parting in shock at the elaborateness of the set up. Deep burgundy walls were darkened by the dimmed chandelier lights hanging above. With high ceilings and wall length windows, the moonlight bathed the entire mansion in pale lighting. Hundreds of people roamed about, either dancing or socializing. Tori was only pulled out of her awed daze by the feeling of Jade's hand shoving her shoulder.

"Move it, Vega. You're in my way." Tori's brunette hair flipped over her shoulder as she whirled around to look at the pale girl who had so drastically altered her opinion of her in just moments.

Jade wasn't supposed to be one of those girls she would see in movies that went to legendary parties in wealthy neighborhoods that everyone talked about for years. She was supposed to be creepy, angry, rude Jade that went to Hollywood Arts and made her life a living hell. Instead she was wearing a black bikini with a white, see through wrap around her hips and gold sandals wrapped up to her ankles. Tori's eyes took in her wavy, pinned up hair and realized for the first time just how little she really knew about Jade. But she just stared back at her with those bright blue eyes of hers, filled with confusion, and eventually shouldered past the half-Latina with a slight shake of her head and a small sigh.

Naturally, Tori followed behind her.

The music slammed through every bone in her body with the bass turned low. The music purely consisted of mash-ups of nearly every pop and indie song she had ever heard along with many that she hadn't. On her way inside, Tori nearly lost Jade in the throngs of teenagers and young adults. She found herself mortified to admit that she wanted nothing more than to hold onto the back of the pale white wrap tied around Jade's waist in order to avoid getting lost. For some reason, she had a deeply rooted belief that Jade would not come look for her. Why Jade even allowed her to tag along with her throughout the week was still a mystery, however, Tori was getting that fifty dollars from Andre no matter what. Jade was stopped more times than Tori could count by people who were genuinely excited to see her. Guys with washboard abs and perfect hair, girls with modelesque bodies and a fashion sense that she would die for, they all loved Jade for reasons she had yet to find out. Tori tried not to think about the possible reasons why Jade hadn't introduced her to anyone.

Slowly, as they made their way through the crowd, Jade led her through expansive hallways with white ceilings and light wooden floorboards. There were at least five doors on both walls, each made of the same wood as the floors. Jade entered the third door on the left and unlocked it with a key that she pulled from her purse. She closed it behind them. It was a casually styled bedroom with a white and brown color scheme and a queen sized bed in the center. Jade flicked the lock shut behind them both.

Tori only watched as Jade reached up and removed the pins from her hair, allowing the onyx tresses to cascade down her shoulders. The pale girl dropped the pins on the dresser to her right and dropped onto the bed after they both threw their bags down by the door. Jade twisted her body to pop her back as she got comfortable. When she was done, her blue eyes met hesitant brown ones across the room.

"Sit down. Relax. I won't bite." Jade murmured calmly as she removed her sandals. Tori pushed her back off of the wall opposite Jade and stepped over to the bed. She paused when Jade added, "Unless you want me to." with a small smirk.

When the azure eyed girl made eye contact with Tori again, she outwardly chuckled at the shocked expression on her face.

"Jesus, Tori, I'm kidding."

Tori didn't quite understand this Jade. All of the normal protocols no longer applied and she had no idea how to act around her anymore. They weren't arguing over petty differences, nor were they on the verge of tearing each other's throats out. Jade was being chill and relaxed and Tori was at a loss. After a few more moments of silence, Jade groaned and stood up, bare feet making light noises against the hardwood floor.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

Tori blinked and shook her head quickly, "No, nothing. Sorry it's just… you're just- I don't know. This is weird."

"Yeah, well, I didn't want to spend all week with you either, so." Jade muttered and turned away from the half-Latina before she could see the look of annoyance on her face.

"Then why did you say yes?" Tori asked. Her eyebrows pushed together and created a small wrinkle in her forehead.

Jade rolled her eyes and huffed, "I don't know. Andre asked and my friend from San Francisco couldn't fly in this year. Cat is in Europe with her family and you were the only person left."

Tori nodded a bit to herself and nearly winced when she remembered exactly why Jade and Beck no longer spend vacations together. Apparently the excuse that he was at a Northridge party and drunk off his ass was not a valid reason to sleep with some trashy Northridge girl. Tori understood. She would've dumped him too.

"I'll try not to disappoint." The half-Latina responded and finally kicked her converse off to plop down on the bed. The mattress didn't squeak under her weight only because of the memory foam it was made out of. It reminded Tori of her bed at home.

"So this party is all week, right?"

Jade nodded and tugged a hair tie off of her wrist to pull her thick hair up into a ponytail. A few tresses in the front came free and hung around her face, but the pale girl didn't bother to fix them. Tori was hesitant to admit that it brought out the sharp curves of her jaw line more when her hair was off of her neck. She was even more hesitant to admit that she was noticing Jade's beauty, and not for the first time.

"Why are you wearing that sweater? It's fucking hot, Vega." Jade sighed in pure annoyance. Brown eyes travelled downward as if she had forgotten she was wearing one. It was a tan, red, and blue knit sweater she wore over her bikini.

"Dang it, sorry." Tori apologised, preoccupied with tugging the offending article of clothing from her body. Leave it to her to get stuck.

"Um, Jade?" She mumbled, voice muffled through the fabric. Jade gave a heavy sigh and stood up as if Tori's predicament physically caused her pain. Pale hands gently tugged at the sweater and once it was clear that the approach wasn't working for either of them, due to Tori's jerking around at every tug from Jade, she used her left hand to grip Tori's slim waist and her right to untangle the girl's necklace from the sweater. One thing that baffled Tori was that Jade was completely gentle with the entire thing.

Not once did she purposely tug too hard or yank her hair while she was completely vulnerable. Then when the sweater was off and Tori turned to look Jade in the eye, Jade realised that her hand was still placed firmly on the half-Latina's hips. Brushing it off as nonchalantly as only Jade can, the pale girl turned on her heel and plopped back onto the bed. Tori shifted and noticed that her bikini top wasn't as tight as it was when she put it on that morning. With a streak of confidence, Tori plopped herself down right between Jade's legs where the girl was sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Tighten this for me?"

After a stunned moment, Jade's immediate reaction was, "Hell no! Get up, Vega."

"Please, Jade?" Tori asked once more and blue eyes were drawn past the bikini straps and followed the curve of the tanned girl's hips up her sides. With a tiny shake of her head and a small scowl, Jade pulled the straps into place so that they would no longer slip down Tori's scrawny shoulders. After muttering a few choice curse words, all of which Tori heard by the way, she finished tightening the straps and patted the half-Latina's shoulder to signal that she was finished. Tori didn't move right away.

"Get the hell off me!" Jade yelled when it became apparent that Tori wasn't going anywhere. Damn how that girl liked to push her buttons.

"You're being nice today…nic_er_ anyway, why?" Tori demanded to know, not even in a rude tone, just genuine curiosity. Jade didn't have to answer that.

"One."

Tori's stomach clenched. She _really _hated when Jade started counting.

"Jade-"

"_Two_." Tori could practically feel the hole that Jade was glaring into the back of her scalp. She gulped.

"I just asked a ques-"

And before she could get her sentence out, Jade's hand snapped against her back so hard that she fell to her knees beside the bed. Tori fell with a high-pitched yell of pain and didn't move for a few moments, trying to breathe through the searing hot ache of her back. Jade chuckled behind her, that low, husky chuckle that made her stomach clench in a completely different way, but she stopped when she realised that Tori wasn't getting up.

"Vega?" With a long-suffering sigh and an eye-roll, she pulled Tori up by the crook of her arm and the half-Latina winced, flinching away from her.

Well, of course this pissed her off even more.

"Grow a pair, Vega. You act like I punched you in the crotch." Jade scowled, a hard glare set in her baby blue eyes.

"Maybe because it _hurt_, Jade!"

In the tense silence that followed, Jade had a raging debate going on through her mind as to whether or not she was feeling remorse for hurting the brunette. After a moment she realised that if she had to ask herself that question, the answer was probably yes.

That didn't mean she was going to apologize.

Jade simply did what she always had when she didn't want to confront something. She changed the subject.

"Do you want to go to the pool or not? I'm not sitting here in my bikini all day and my friends are waiting." She stepped back from the half-Latina and proceeded to grab her towel and darkly tinted aviators. Tori's coffee brown eyes followed her movements in silence and when Jade walked, no, strutted to the door, Tori still had not moved. Her thin arms were crossed firmly over her chest and her jaw was clenched tightly. Jade looked over her shoulder at her plus one to the party and pinched the bridge of her nose with her free hand.

"Let's go, Vega." Jade practically demanded, nostrils flaring just slightly when she was ignored.

"_Vega_!" Jade snaps.

Tori lifts her chin and levels a defiant glare at Jade, meeting her gaze head on. Instead of blowing up like Tori had assumed she would, the pale girl rubbed her forehead with the fingers that were previously pinching her nose and huffed.

"Look, I didn't mean to hurt you that bad." Jade grumbled and her hand squeezed the door handle so tightly that her already pale knuckles turned white.

"Was that an apology?" Tori asked with a slight quirk of her eyebrow. She was surprised that Jade relented.

"As good of one as you're gonna get." The raven haired girl answered honestly, her eyebrows raising as well, arching over her aviator sunglasses. Tori sighed and grabbed her towel as well, and when Jade held the door for her and frowned at the mark on her back as she walked past, she thought that maybe Jade wasn't as ruthless as she pretended to be.

* * *

They all sat around the pool, lounging with nearly one hundred other teenagers being rowdy and feeling the affects of the hot Los Angeles weather. They were the only ones there from Hollywood Arts, not that any of them minded. There were a group of twenty or so guys and girls in the pool with tricked out water guns in the middle of a very intense war. A couple of girls off to the side took turns braiding each other's hair up in intricate, unique styles. The largest group was crowding the DJ's turntable, dancing and grinding very provocatively against each other.

Then there was their little group of five: Tori, Jade, the pale girl's friend Ian, his twin sister Jocelyn, and her best friend Allison.

They each spread out on one massive blanket, which they then laid their towels out on. Allison was on her back, her book protecting her face from the sun. Jade was laid on her stomach; head buried in her arms, while Tori sat back with her legs crossed as she watched the death match in the pool. Ian lay on his back with Jocelyn lying across his abdomen on her stomach, watching the group dance around the DJ. With a groan, Allison put down _The Great Gatsby_ and turned to face the other four.

"Guys, we need to do that assignment Sikowitz assigned us over break. And, no, Jade before you say anything I will not just write some bullshit paper with imaginary results." Allison huffed and her curly red hair shifted in the breeze, whipping a curl down between her eyes that she promptly blew away.

Jade only smirked in her direction after turning her head to the side in order to look at everyone. Sikowitz assigned every student in the school involved in acting to do an exercise where they turned everything on its head and spent the entire break doing something that they would never typically do. Of course no one had objected. How hard could it be?

"Alright, fine. You come up with ideas then." Jade snapped playfully at Ally. She was so much more relaxed than usual and Tori could practically see the stress and tension seep from her pores as she lay out under the sun. Ally's green eyes traveled upward as she brainstormed, her teeth gnawing at her bottom lip.

"Got it." Jocelyn spoke up, her platinum blonde hair tumbling into her face as she rose up off of her brother. The other four turned their gazes on her.

"Let's actually make this a challenge. Jade, you pretend to date Tori. Ian, you pretend to date Ally." Jocelyn grinned as if she had come up with the most genius plan in history.

Ian, at the mention of his name, cracked one brown eye open to look at his twin sister. Jade looked incredulous.

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

Jocelyn snapped back immediately with, "You backing out of a challenge, West? If you were really as great an actress as you claim you are, this won't be a problem."

Jade's pale blue eyes narrowed murderously at the girl sitting across from her, but she didn't object any longer. Jade was too prideful to back out of it, especially since she'd been challenged. Jocelyn smiled, feeling that she had gotten her way once again as she met the rest of their gazes.

"Everyone else fine with that? Yes? Great."

"Wait, wait… who will you pretend to date?" Allison inquires, not accusingly, just curious.

"I'm the judge or referee of some kind. Whatever it's called, I'll monitor you all and get a few of my sources to keep a look out so that you don't break character."

Jade rolled her eyes at the cop-out and rested her chin in the palm of her hand while her elbow pushed her torso off of her towel.

"When do we start?" She asked, her tone bored once again. One thing Tori noticed was that Jade's interest didn't last very long unless there was something in it for her.

"Right now. Go!" Jocelyn surprised everyone with the announcement and with a small sigh, Jade sat up so that her legs left space in between for Tori to sit. She pulled the half-Latina by her waist, gently, and situated her between her legs. There was no time for discussing or questions. They were thrown head-first into improv and not allowed to break character for a second for the rest of the week. Tori tensed slightly against Jade's chest, her heart pounding just a little bit harder than before.

Tori had forgotten how soft Jade was, and how warm and… nice she felt since they had played as Nancy and Walter in a school performance. It was easy to overlook those features when she was chasing her down the hallways with scissors, but now she was her girlfriend for the week. Jade's pale hand raised and softly brushed Tori's hair to one side. The half-Latina let out a ragged breath when Jade placed a feather-light kiss on the back of her neck. Tori hadn't realised she was tensed up until Jade's other hand found one of hers and began massaging her palm. How the hell did Jade know that she loved that?

"Relax, ma chérie. I told you I won't bite." _Unless you want me to._ She hadn't said it that time, but the way her voice dipped so that only Tori could hear made it very clear. And since when did Jade speak French? Why did no one warn her that Jade was _this _sexy? Tori didn't even want that thought to enter her head, but once it was there it wouldn't leave. Of course it was hard not to notice how comfortable Jade is with her body. The girl was gorgeous with all types of undertones of sensuality. However, no one bothered to mention that being the focus of that sensuality was enough to make her forget to breathe. If anyone noticed the look of pure shock on Tori's face, they didn't mention it.

Instead, Allison placed herself on Ian's lap as if she had been doing so for years. Determined to not be outshined, Jade moved her hand from her waist and placed it flat on the top of her thigh. A sharp pinch reminded Tori that their relationship was a two-person deal. She had to act the part as well. Tori relaxed into Jade's embrace and laid her head back onto the pale girl's shoulder. Suddenly, Tori remembered what Jade had called her only moments before. _Ma chérie. _She needed something cute to do with Jade, something that would make anyone walking past to think: _Those girls are adorable. They're so in love._

She would figure out something later on, maybe while they were alone, so that she wouldn't feel so nervous in front of their 'audience", which consisted of everyone at the party. For the moment, though, Tori grabbed the hand on her thigh and laced her fingers through Jade's. She brought their intertwined hands up to her lips and kissed each of Jade's knuckles while snuggling further into her embrace. Jade's husky chuckle shifted the hair that had fallen out of the messy bun atop Tori's head. A shiver raced down Tori's spine and cause goosebumps to rise on her arms. Jade noticed, and then chuckled again because of it.

She murmured an apology into Tori's heated ear and the half-Latina had to fervently remind herself that this wasn't real. Jade was just a phenomenal actress. She knew this already, so why was disappointed when it dawned on her that Jade would go back to hating her after the break was over and their fake relationship ended. Maybe if she was a great pretend girlfriend to Jade for the rest of the week then they could build some type of bond though it. Tori set it in her mind that Jade would like her when spring break was over. She had to.

Tori was so preoccupied with her plan that she hadn't noticed that Jocelyn was asking the rest of them questions about their relationships until Jade was answering. Her chest vibrated against her back as she spoke and her heart beat was calm and steady. It made Tori smile a bit.

"…used to irritate the hell out of me because she was just so fucking _nice_. I guess she grew on me." Jade kissed the side of her head when she finished talking and squeezed their intertwined hands for emphasis.

"You guess?" Tori asked in mock offence. She turned slightly in Jade's arms and looked into her baby blue eyes. Tori had always loved Jade's eyes, way before spring break. She could never tell her that because she was so sure that Jade would have scissors at her throat before she could get the compliment out, but now she could. She could do a _lot _ with Jade now. Holy shit, she could kiss Jade… would _have_ to kiss Jade if they were 'dating'. The thought made her stomach clench all over again. Then Jade was smiling at her and she was so _beautiful_…

"I'm joking, ma chérie. I'm joking." Jade murmured against the shell of her ear before nipping at her earlobe. Allison and Ian were answering question after question with Jocelyn having noticed that Tori and Jade were completely caught up in each other. A smile worked its way to her lips, though she hid it behind taking a sip out of her water bottle. They weren't going to drink until later that night. She still didn't understand exactly how Tori got permission to go with them, she only knew that she lied about where they were going. She thought she heard Jade mention something about Tori telling her parents she drove to Arizona with Jade instead. Jade's parents were gone on business for the entire week of spring break as well as the next two weeks after it. Theoretically, she could go wherever she wanted.

"You speak French?" Tori finally asked, her gaze still locked with Jade's. The pale girl shrugged one shoulder.

"Un peu. Avez-vous aimé?" Jade asked and of course Tori had no idea what she was saying.

"Te gusta?" Jade then asked in Spanish, knowing that Tori would understand that.

Brown eyes searched Jade's for a moment and Tori couldn't _not _notice that Jade was absolutely gorgeous, especially when the sun shined down into her eyes at this particular angle. Tori couldn't _not_ notice the way that Jade's already sensual voice got twenty times more attractive when she spoke in another language, no matter if it was French or Spanish.

Then she leaned up and did something that surprised them both. She kissed her. Jade tensed beneath her for half a second before turning Tori around in her arms so that the half-Latina was practically straddling her. She didn't make it anything sensual, in fact Jade was being extremely sweet with her, passionate even. One of her pale hands released Tori's and brought it up to caress her cheek. The other let go as well and she used it to cup the back of her neck. Jade's heart was hammering against Tori's chest. The brunette faintly wondered in the back of her mind if Jade could feel how fast her heart was beating as well. She stopped caring when Jade's lips parted slightly, giving her access to add tongue into the kiss if she wanted to. Instead, Tori pulled back, remembering that they weren't alone.

When she was far enough away that they could see each other's faces, they stared in shock for all of two seconds before Jade gave a nervous, breathy laugh. That took Tori by surprise because she had _never_ heard that sound come from Jade in her life. With a tiny shake of her head, Tori reminded herself that they were acting, no matter how real it felt. In their distracted states, neither of them noticed that Jocelyn and Ian exchanged a discreet high-five behind Allison's back.

* * *

**A/N: **Hey, I'm back! This story won't be very long. I'll do a chapter for every day of their spring break. This was just the introduction. Let me know what you thought and if I should actually continue this. Honestly, guys, feedback is amazing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

* * *

"_Jade, what did I tell you about calling me at work?_" The masculine voice over the phone was tense and deeply annoyed. Jade's jaw clenched. Why did she even try?

"Dad, I know. I just-"

"_I'll be there in a moment, Parker… No, it's no one important. I'm coming… Jade, don't call again. I'll see you in a few weeks."_ With that, Daniel West hung up. Jade stared blankly at her cell phone for nearly five minutes before her nostrils flared and she had to use every ounce of self control in her body to refrain from chucking her phone against the nearest wall. Jade's mom never told her exactly why her father never really cared for her presence. Then again, how do you tell your three year old daughter why her daddy doesn't talk to her anymore? But when Jade was nearly sixteen, she had it figured out. Daniel West didn't like her because she wasn't his daughter.

Apparently he hadn't found out until she was three and unfortunately she couldn't remember much of their relationship prior to his enlightenment, but it had to be better than how he treated her now. When Jade was twelve, her mother stopped trying to put up with her perpetually angry daughter. Well, who did that leave Jade with when her mom refused to bother with her constant insults and fits of anger? No one. She had herself, and that was how it had been since she was twelve years old. At seventeen, the rejection still hurt just as bad as the first time. At least she was old enough now to not get sent away to stay with her grandmother every time a school break came along. Not that she minded much, that woman taught her how to speak French in her free time and made her feel like she wasn't a _complete_ waste of space. However, as soon as she got back home she would be reminded that no one in that house cared about her.

As a kid, she convinced herself that it was her own fault. She still believed that to this day. Jade jumped when Tori entered their shared room, arms full of snacks and bottles of sparkling juice and water. A smile tugged at her lips when she noticed how much the brunette was struggling and Jade momentarily forgot about her father not staying on the phone long enough for her to tell him that she was away for the week. Not that he particularly cared where she went, as long as she wasn't bothering him. Jade swallowed. She stood up and walked over to Tori, who looked like she would drop everything in a matter of seconds. Her pale arms grabbed half of the things that Tori was carrying and placed them on the dresser. Soon, the beverages were in the mini fridge and the chips were in a disposable plastic bowl.

"Thanks." Tori sighed breathlessly after falling back onto the bed. Jade plopped down onto her lap to get a reaction out of her. It worked.

"Jade!" Tori laughed and sat up, wrapping her slender arms around the pale girl's hips.

"_Tori_!" Jade mocked half-heartedly. Surprisingly enough, Tori noticed. She frowned a bit and that little crease appeared between her eyebrows once more.

"What's wrong, baby?"

Right. They were acting.

"What do you mean? I'm fine." Jade kept her face entirely in check when she answered, so when Tori raised an un-believing eyebrow at her, she was stunned.

"No, you aren't. I can tell that you're off, Jade. You don't have to talk about it, but don't lie to me." A tan hand reached up and tilted Jade's chin downward so that the pale girl would look at her. When their eyes met, Tori stole a brief kiss from Jade's lips and started massaging her shoulders. Blue eyes fluttered closed in pure bliss and, completely forgetting that she was 'big, bad Jade West', the raven haired girl wrapped her arms around Tori and buried her face into the crook of her neck. Those long, tan fingers traveled down to knead her lower back and Jade groaned quietly into Tori's shoulder. The half-Latina's breath hitched at the sound and suddenly she was very aware of their position.

That was what couples did, however, and it would be weird for her to get embarrassed of contact between herself and her girlfriend. Jade's mind was blank, completely wiped clean of all thoughts due to the pure bliss that Tori created from her massage. So of course she wasn't thinking when Tori kneaded that _one particular_ spot on her lower back that drove her insane and she bit the space between the half-Latina's shoulder and neck to hold back a moan that threatened to release from deep in her chest. Tori's breath hitched and then trembled, audibly that time, and Jade pulled away slightly to look her in the eye.

"Shit, I'm sorry…" Jade trailed off when she noticed how blown the half-Latina's pupils were. Not to mention that, even with the bass shaking the walls from the music across the massive house, she could feel Tori's heart hammering against her own chest.

"You liked that, didn't you?" Jade chuckled in amusement as Tori's face heated and turned red faster than Jade thought possible. The brunette attempted to pull away from Jade, completely mortified, but pale hands gently cupped her cheeks. Her thumbs absently brushed across her cheekbones as blue eyes flickered intensely between brown ones. Instead of trying to come up with comforting words that she knew would take forever to say, she did the next best thing she could think of.

Her head tilted downward and she captured Tori's lips with her own. The kiss was slow and languid with the soft sounds of their lips moving together breaking the near silence every few seconds. Tori's eyebrows scrunched together as she debated over furthering the kiss the way that she didn't really want to admit she wanted to. After a few moments, Jade made that decision for her. Instead of giving the option to her like she had earlier that day, Jade's fingers caressed her sides and made Tori gasp at the sudden spike of her heartbeat.

The raven haired girl used the parting of her lips to slip her tongue into the half-Latina's mouth. Tori moaned at the way that Jade's tongue caressed hers and the pale girl arched into her faux girlfriend at the sound. A knock on their door washed over them like ice water and they pulled back to look at each other, the shock they both felt earlier that day by the pool returning once more. Suddenly, Jade was standing up to open the door and Tori was trying to figure out why her voice refused to work around her.

"We came bearing drinks!" Tori heard someone, possibly Jocelyn, greet enthusiastically from the doorway. Brown eyes glanced toward the voice and noticed that it _was_ Jocelyn, along with Ian and Allison. Each of them had two bottles of wine in their arms. Jade chuckled and let them inside with an ease that would never have suggested what they had just done together. Then it hit Tori once more that Jade was an amazing actress and none of that was real. Her heart thudded emptily in her chest.

"Tori, what's up babe?" Jocelyn asked quietly, dropping down beside her while the others poured everyone drinks. The half-Latina forced a smile to her lips and shook her head.

"Sorry, I zone out a lot." She lied smoothly, apparently well enough to fool Jocelyn because the blonde grinned.

"No worries. So, how's vacation with your girlfriend so far?"

Tori's brown eyes met hers and she laughed a little, "None of your business." She winked and playfully shoved Jocelyn's shoulder with her elbow. Jocelyn's laugh tinkled throughout the room. She leaned over and whispered in Tori's ear.

"You know what, Tori, I think you're pretty cool…and I know that you like Jade. So I'm going to tell you something that Jade will probably kill me for. Don't respond because then you'll break character, but Jade _really_ likes you. Don't fuck up." Jocelyn whispered all of that quickly into Tori's now heated ear; all while the blonde's brown eyes watched the pale girl across the room. As she was pulling back, Jade made eye contact with both of them and her eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Why are you whispering in my girlfriend's ear?" She demanded to know, her voice cutting through the air like knives. Jocelyn only shook her head with a small smile.

"Chill, Jade. I'm helping you out."

Jade's eyes went from murderous to confused in seconds. Ian walked up with his arm around Allison's shoulder, the redhead watching them all with an anxious look in her eyes. The tension in the room was slowly becoming noticeable.

"How about you help me by keeping your nasty hands off of my girlfriend? I like you Joss, but I swear to God I will stab you." Jade snapped with a look in her eyes that even Tori could tell was too real to be acting. Jade was jealous and that made Tori grin. Jade, though, did not.

Jocelyn stood up and moved her hands in a placating gesture, allowing Jade to think that she had scared her off.

"Alright, sorry. I'm moving now." She said while walking over to the dresser to grab a handful of chips from the bowl.

Immediately after, Jade sat down beside Tori and handed the half-Latina a glass of white wine. With a strange impulse to let Jade know that she wasn't interested in Jocelyn, she shifted over and sat herself across Jade's lap, her legs crossed over the raven haired girl's. She leaned into Jade, careful not the spill either of their drinks, and kissed the shell of her ear.

"You don't have to be jealous, baby." She whispered soothingly, low enough that only Jade could hear. The pale girl sighed softly and turned her head to kiss Tori's neck.

"Fine. I'm not giving you my scissors though."

Tori laughed and leaned her forehead against Jade's, not even surprised that she brought them on her vacation.

"I'm not asking you to. Just don't use them on anyone…or any_thing_." The half-Latina narrowed her eyes in playful accusation and smiled when Jade rolled her eyes and her lips quirked up, getting rid of the frown that was previously on her face. They were broken out of their intimate bubble when Ian cleared his throat. Everyone was staring at them.

"What?" Jade snapped as the glare came right back into her eyes.

"You two get together and just forget all about everyone else, don't you?" The platinum blond haired boy chuckled as he sat down on the loveseat across the room with Allison leaning into his embrace as she sipped her wine. It couldn't have been her first glass. Her face and neck were flushed. Tori tilted her own glass to her lips while Jade's eyes narrowed at her friend.

"Possibly because we were busy before we were so rudely interrupted."

"You opened the door! And we were just fine until…oh." Ian paused as a grin slowly spread across his face. He chuckled a bit to himself and nodded slightly.

"I get it. You're getting pissy at us because you're jealous." The brown eyed boy looked smug at his analysis, however Jade never had taken too kindly to having her emotions laid out for everyone to scrutinize.

"Don't make _me_ look like the asshole! Tell your grimy sister to stay away from my girlfriend!" The pale girl shouted, but Ian paid her no mind. Jade was always yelling about something. He thought that it couldn't be healthy for a person to be so hard to please.

"Is she always like this?" Ian asked Tori as if Jade wasn't still cursing at him under her breath. The half-Latina thought back to the time when Jade and Beck were still together and how she went off over any type of attention that the guy received from a girl, whether it be a nice old woman at the grocery store or a female teacher calling on Beck to answer a question. Jade had it out for them all.

"Yeah, pretty much." Tori responded, wrapping her free arm around Jade's shoulder so that she could run her fingers soothingly through the onyx tresses. That stopped Jade's quiet ranting for nearly five seconds before it picked up again. Tori placed a tiny kiss on the side of Jade's head and the girl went quiet once more. When the brunette looked down to see why she hadn't started again, her heart clenched in her chest at the sight.

Jade was pouting.

It wasn't anything she had ever seen before, but Tori had to admit that it was the most adorable thing. Jade's lower lip protruded slightly and she just got this _look_ in her eyes that had darkened to cerulean blue because of the artificial lighting. She just looked so damn sad and Tori didn't know what to do about it. They were all just joking, so what had upset her? Tori hadn't realised that it was completely silent until she looked up at their room guests.

"Can you give us a minute?" She asked as she nodded toward the door. Without a word, though with a couple of guilty faces, they exited the room to stand outside. Tori leaned over Jade to place her drink on the night stand and grabbed her faux girlfriend's glass to do the same.

"What happened, Jay?" It was a new nickname she was trying out, and she liked the way that it made her feel when she said it, all bubbly and happy. That feeling diminished when Jade refused to look at her.

"Baby?" Tori tried again and eventually just used her index finger to turn Jade's head in her direction. Those sad blue eyes had closed and were no longer available to read like they were only moments ago.

"I'm sorry." Jade apologised in a near whisper.

Tori's face scrunched in utter confusion because she couldn't, for the life of her, understand what she had to be sorry for. Jade was just being herself. When her eyes finally opened, they were shiny as they stared up at the ceiling. She couldn't meet Tori's eyes. She was thinking about every single time that her father had told her to leave him alone, that she was a burden, or that he didn't want her near him. She was convinced that it was her fault, that it _all_ was her fault. Tori had confirmed the thought that was already running through her mind. Yes, she _was _always a burden. Jade was convinced that people merely put up with her, instead of actually wanting her around. She was even more upset when she realised that she was having a pity party for herself in front of none other than Tori _fucking_ Vega. The same girl who didn't actually like her, she was only acting the part, which made sense. Jade wouldn't want to deal with herself either.

_I know I'm hard to be around, but you only have to put up with me for six more days._

Jade sighed and got her emotions in check after mentally shaking herself as a reminder that she had a role to play. That's what all of this was, after all. It was an act.

"I'm fine, just sick of Ian and Jocelyn already. I can't be around the same people for a long time." Jade responded as if that look in her eyes had never appeared. Maybe she hadn't known it was there. Tori wouldn't have either if she hadn't seen it a few minutes ago because it was completely wiped away now.

"You can be around _me_." Tori responded and raised an eyebrow. Jade smirked.

"Because you're mine. Ma belle Latina." The pale girl murmured as she leaned up to peck Tori on the lips and the brunette smiled a bit. She knew that Jade was lying to her. Getting sick of being around your friends for too long wouldn't elicit that look from anyone, especially not Jade.

"What did I tell you earlier?" Tori asked quietly. She had no doubt that at least one member of the trio outside was listening through the door.

"What do you mean?" Jade responded, her perfectly arched eyebrows scrunched together in perplexity.

"You don't have to talk about it…" Tori prompted her gently, raising an eyebrow at her as a signal to finish the rest.

"But don't lie to you. Got it." Jade huffed and leaned her head forward onto Tori's shoulder. They sat like that for a moment, just being comforted by each other's presence.

"Don't expect me to start coming to you with my diary." Jade spoke up after a while and her words made Tori laugh a bit.

"You'll tell me when you're ready."

Jade pulled back and looked at Tori, eyes narrowed in scrutiny.

"Stop being so understanding… it's making me feel- I don't know, but I don't like it."

Tori watched her in amusement and used her right thumb to gently stroke Jade's cheek.

"I'm your girlfriend, Jade. I'm not gonna just treat you like you don't mean anything." The half-Latina chuckled, but Jade's heart nearly stopped because it was at that moment she realised that Tori, the only person who really cared about her at the moment, would go back to disliking her after all of this was over. They were acting. Jade had almost forgotten that Tori practically hated her before today. If she didn't hate her then she at least strongly disapproved of her presence.

Tori frowned. That _look_ was back.

"Jade?"

"Let's go join the party." The pale girl suddenly smiled and pulled Tori up with her so that she didn't fall out of her lap.

"Jade-"

"Come on." Jade grinned as she threw open the door and Jocelyn stumbled, nearly falling into the blue eyed girl. Instead of getting angry that she was listening in on their conversation like Tori had assumed she would, Jade righted her friend and brushed past them, not waiting for them to follow her. With a small groan, Tori pushed past the other three teens standing in the doorway. She would find out what was going on with Jade. That, she promised.

* * *

When Tori finally caught up to Jade, she wasn't dancing like Tori thought she would have been. She seemed to be having a heated discussion on the phone, and of course her first guess as to who it could have been was…Beck. She frowned immediately and used the mass of writhing bodies around her to her advantage in losing Jocelyn, Ally, and Ian. Who's house were they at anyway? Jade never said and Tori began to suspect that not even she knew. When she reached the pale girl, she had long since ended the call, but was hastily swiping her fingers beneath her eyes.

Why was she crying?

Not that she hadn't seen the other girl cry before, Jade was a very emotional person, but she wouldn't cry over Beck. Not anymore, anyway. She had moved on and everyone had known it. After the break up, Jade walked down the halls just fine. She even looked a little happier and yelled just a little bit less. So, when Tori finally reached Jade and the pale girl had successfully gotten rid of her tears, Jade smiled in greeting.

"Sick party, right?" she asked, leaning back against the wall with a chill expression on her face. Tori's frown got slightly more noticeable.

"Why won't you tell me what's bothering you? You won't even admit that anything _is_ wrong!" Tori had to yell to be heard over the chest-thumping music. Jade only rolled her eyes.

"You literally _just_ told me that it's cool if I don't want to tell you yet."

"Yeah, that was before I saw you pushing everything down like you're okay. That's not healthy, Jade!" Tori expressed firmly. With a withering glare, Jade stepped closer to Tori.

"You might be my girlfriend, but I don't have to justify my actions to you."

"That's not what I mean..." Tori began in a whine, paused at the pissed off expression on Jade's face, then continued despite the glare that had made her hands start shaking.

"Look, I really care about you, baby. I care more than I think you realise, and I just need that smile of yours that I love so much to come back. Just talk to me." Tori murmured, stepping even closer and wrapping her thin arms around Jade's waist as she talked into her ear. When Tori pulled back to look at her, Jade was blushing, a pink tint to her cheeks that caused Tori to smile happily. At the sight, Jade's lips quirked up as well.

"Fine, I'll tell you later. Promise."

Tori nodded in agreement and pulled one of her arms back from Jade's waist to hold her hand out, pinky extended. Jade groaned under her breath.

"You have got to be kidding." The pale girl complained over the music pounding through the house. Tori just raised an expectant eyebrow at her and Jade finally rolled her eyes and hooked their pinkies together. After they pulled their hands apart, Tori leaned forward and placed and teasing kiss on Jade's lips before pulling her back out to the center of the massive dance area. Tori could guess that it had at some point been a living room, but all of the furniture was pressed to the walls, making the large space even vaster. For the rest of that night, they set aside all drama and just enjoyed the other's presence.

* * *

The two had completely abandoned Jade's other friends by the time it was nearing four in the morning. Jade's hands fumbled with the key to their temporary bedroom, though her lack of dexterity didn't come from the light buzz that set comfortable warmth throughout her body; it came from something so much better. Tori was making her laugh. The half-Latina had taken on the accent of an old English woman, saying things that made Jade giggle. And then of course Tori continued because Jade was fucking _giggling_ and it was the best thing she had ever heard.

Jade's laugh was so much better to hear than her screaming or murderous threats. Happy Jade was the greatest Jade, hands down. Even if she was pretty hot when she was angry... Tori shook the thought away. She couldn't go there; they had more important things to discuss that Jade pinkie promised to tell her. When they locked the door behind themselves, Jade immediately removed her bikini top. Tori froze at the dresser and stared in shock.

"What are you doing?" The half-Latina demanded with slight panic in her tone. Jade frowned at her as if she were overreacting.

"I'm changing into something comfortable to sleep in, Vega. Is that a problem?" Instead of answering Jade's question and risk letting it slip that it was hard to concentrate when she was topless, Tori only averted her eyes and constantly checked her thoughts to make sure that she wouldn't try to sneak a glance.

"Why do you do that?" Tori asked suddenly. She needed to get her mind out of the boobs..._gutter_. God, she meant gutter.

"Do what?" Jade asked, frowning as she removed the rest of her bikini, wrap, and sandals before beginning to change into a pair of black underwear and an oversized Stanford college T-shirt from her suitcase.

"Call me Vega. Even after we started dating, you still do it." Tori asked, realising that she genuinely wanted the answer. Jade sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"You act like it's a bad last name."

"You used to say it like it was..." Tori reminded her quietly and chanced a look at the pale girl. She was dressed, but her legs were still a distraction. Damn, how they were toned. Tori gave a tiny shake of her head at herself before making eye contact with Jade. Not boob contact or leg contact, just brown eyes on blue.

"Did you ever think that maybe I really like your last name? It sounds...I don't know, better when I say it than if I was to call you Tori." Jade paused for a moment as something seemed to dawn on her.

"Why don't you ever go by Victoria?" She asked curiously.

"I'll answer a question for every time that you answer one of mine. Fair enough?" Tori asked and Jade just nodded her head then impatiently gestured for her to start talking.

"My abuela, the one who made the throw pillow that you cried on when you and Beck broke up that one time...?" Tori trailed off until Jade nodded in confirmation that she remembered who she meant.

"She was the only person who called me by my full name... then, when she passed, it just didn't feel right hearing it from anyone else." Tori shrugged a bit and released her hair from the sloppy bun atop her head. While she rummaged through her bag for something to sleep in, Jade watched Tori with a considering look on her face.

"Why were you crying before I found you tonight?" Tori asked while pulling out a purple I Heart Mustaches hoodie and black leggings. As she began to change, Jade tried to find a way to answer her question without having to explain millions of details from her childhood that would justify her reaction. With a sigh, she just decided to wing it.

"My dad called because he had gotten a text from my mother saying that her friend stopped by our house to check on me and I wasn't there. He started yelling, not because I was off somewhere and he didn't know, but because it made him look bad to our idiot, gossipy neighbors. I tried to explain that I had talked to him earlier and he told me not to call him anymore before I'd gotten a chance to explain why I wouldn't be at the house during this week." Jade finished. By the time she was done, Tori had finished getting dressed and was staring at her with a slight pout in her coffee brown eyes. Whatever she had been about to say, she changed her mind at the last minute.

"You cried because he yelled at you, or is there something else…?"

Jade shook her head and smirked at the tanned girl.

"Nope, you have to answer another question."

"But you still haven't answered _my_ question!" Tori said with her voice coated in pure exasperation. Jade chuckled at her disbelieving expression.

"Vega…" The blue eyed girl warned, playfully raising an eyebrow at her fake girlfriend.

"_West_!" Tori shouted in response and her arms crossed over her chest while her pout grew in magnitude. Jade flat out grinned, only because she knew exactly how she would get her way.

"Ma chérie…"

Tori mentally skidded to a halt at the term of endearment and her heart fluttered just a little when she heard it. The pout left her face and was replaced by a half-hearted glare.

"You're evil."

"How did you convince your parents to let you 'go to Arizona' with me this week?" Jade continued as if Tori wasn't glaring daggers at her.

"I told them that we were finally getting over our differences and getting closer. They were so excited that you no longer harassed me at school that they said yes. I'm pretty sure my dad met yours before so I guess he trusts us to be safe, considering that he's a cop and all… I don't know. I didn't ask too many questions. It might've made them change their mind." Tori smiled a bit, feeling a brief moment of homesickness before it disappeared.

"What, specifically, made you cry earlier tonight?" The half-Latina asked immediately, before Jade could try to change the subject again. The pale girl sighed to herself and kept her gaze locked on the wall beside Tori's head. It took her a while to answer and Tori's stomach knotted up with every moment that passed by.

"When I said that my dad hated me last year, I wasn't being dramatic. He hardly acknowledges me, let alone my accomplishments. He um…" Jade paused for a moment. It was the first time she had ever been this close to saying the real reason that he hated her out loud. She had no idea why she was telling Tori when none of her oldest friends even knew the answer.

Tori made her happy, she supposed. Maybe that was enough to justify what she was about to say next.

"I'm not…actually his daughter." She said, gaze still firmly locked on the white wall behind Tori Vega's head. Once that had come out, then everything else tumbled out after it.

"My mom had an affair around the same time that the both of them were trying to have a baby and they nearly gave up because my dad wasn't able to impregnate her, but then imagine their great fucking _joy_ when the doctor said that my mom was pregnant. From a few pictures my mom hid in the attic, I'm guessing he loved me before he found out. It was pretty easy to tell when he stopped because I was maybe three years old and suddenly he wouldn't even look at me-" Jade cut herself off and buried her face in her hands to try and force back the stinging in her eyes. She was _not_ crying in front of Tori. Not twice in one day.

Suddenly two long, thin arms were wrapped around Jade and Tori's constant scent of cinnamon body spray enveloped her just as much as the hug did. Instead of pushing her away like Tori feared she might, Jade turned and buried her face in the crook of the half-Latina's neck. Tori didn't judge her for crying like other people did. Her mother used to tell her to walk it off, that she was fine. Jade was always convinced that she was fucking _fine_, but Tori was right earlier.

Everything wasn't okay and it was time to stop pretending like it was.

* * *

**A/N:**I was trying to update yesterday and literally no one would leave me alone long enough to write. Thank you all for the encouraging reviews! Please keep them coming, haha. A couple of you mentioned that Jade seemed like a Mary Sue in the first chapter and I completely understood what you meant when I went back to read over it, which is why I used this chapter to explain a bit of her background more. Hopefully it came across that Jade, while Tori describes her as being this idealistic girl, is actually a very flawed person. I'll try to go more into depth with the both of them throughout the upcoming chapters. Feedback feeds me, so...don't let me starve, yeah?


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